Fox News has hired back Liz Cheney as a contributor after her unsuccessful Senate run. Cheney's rehiring is the latest example of the cushy platform Fox News provides for Republicans before and after they run for political office.

The former Bush administration official returned to Fox News as a contributor on the April 6 edition of Fox News Sunday. Little changed, as Cheney defended Bush against a Senate report criticizing Bush's torture program, and claimed that that legislators should spend more time investigating the already thoroughly investigated Benghazi. PolitiFact criticized Cheney for falsely claiming the "numbers of people that support Obamacare and like it have been steadily dropping."

Cheney joins a long list of Republicans who have found a home at Fox News after unsuccessful campaigns. That list includes Herman Cain, Al D'Amato, Mike Huckabee, John LeBoutillier, KT McFarland, Angela McGlowan, Oliver North, Sarah Palin, Jeanine Pirro, Pete Snyder, and Allen West. Keith Ablow and Geraldo Rivera both considered, but decided against recent campaigns, while Scott Brown left Fox in March to run for Senate in his newly adopted state of New Hampshire.

Both McGlowan and Snyder were Fox News contributors who left the network to run for office, and were subsequently rehired. On the flipside, former contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were not hired back after their presidential runs (Gingrich criticized Fox News during the campaign, prompting Fox News head Roger Ailes to claim he's angling for a job with CNN -- where Gingrich is now a host).

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus took Mary Cheney to task for challenging her sister Liz's opposition to marriage equality, arguing that - even though it's wrong to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry - Mary Cheney and her wife Heather Poe should have stayed silent instead of "[g]oing nuclear on Facebook."

In her November 20 column, Marcus echoed right-wing pundits who are casting Mary Cheney as the villain in the family feud, accusing Mary of unfairly jeopardizing Liz's chances of being elected to the U.S. Senate by deigning to say how she feels about having a sister who opposes her right to marry:

In the matter of the Cheney Family Feud: Something in me balks at leaping on the let's-all-bash-Liz bandwagon.

Sure, it would be fun. For one thing, she's wrong about same-sex marriage. As her sister, Mary, now famously posted on Facebook after her big sis re-proclaimed her opposition on "Fox News Sunday": "Liz -- this isn't just an issue on which we disagree -- you're just wrong -- and on the wrong side of history."

[...]

Then there is the unfortunate matter of waging this family war in public. It's easy to imagine how infuriating it felt for Mary and her wife, Heather Poe, to be sitting at home watching Liz spout off on Fox News. The urge to fight back obviously was irresistible.

But taking matters further public? Going nuclear on Facebook? Heather's post painted her sister-in-law as a political carpetbagger who shifted positions along with states:

"I can't help but wonder how Liz would feel if, as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other," Heather wrote in a post Mary shared.

[...]

Look, I would have been tempted to post, too. I would have been tempted to tweet. Then I would have thought better of it -- or, more likely, my spouse would have told me to step away from the keyboard. That's what Heather should have done for Mary. Instead, Mary reposted Heather's incendiary message.

Like a number of right-wing pundits before her, Marcus argues Mary is to blame for the public Cheney family feud. Liz, who chose to run for public office and make her anti-equality position known, apparently bears no responsibility for putting her gay sister and her family in the spotlight.

The reality is that while gay and lesbian couples are able to marry in 15 states and the District of Columbia, they're second-class citizens in the rest of the country. Pointing out that Liz's position relegates millions of gays and lesbians to second-class status isn't "incendiary" - it's basic truth-telling.

To be fair, Marcus criticizes Liz Cheney's claim that she has always been "compassionate towards" Mary and her family, but she concludes by suggesting that Mary's family may have read too much into Liz's previous warmth. Perhaps, Marcus offered, Liz Cheney was just "being polite":

And [Heather Poe posted], "when Mary and I got married in 2012 -- she [Liz] didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us. To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least." But maybe Liz was merely being polite at the time. To say she's happy for the married couple is not the same as saying she embraces their marriage.

It's easy for Marcus - who's never had her right to marry put up to a referendum or become a political wedge issue - to call for restraint. But Mary and Liz aren't having a minor political disagreement. Liz's opposition to marriage equality has a direct impact on the livelihood and well-being of her gay sister. For gay and lesbian couples - whose freedom to marry isn't uniformly enjoyed and whose legal protections have come only after years of hard-fought struggle - keeping quiet just isn't that simple.

In a November 19 blog post, Lewis weighed in on the Cheney sisters' feud, which was sparked by remarks made by Liz Cheney, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming, opposing marriage equality. Liz Cheney reiterated that position in a November 17 appearance on Fox News Sunday, stating that while she'd always tried to be "compassionate toward" Mary Cheney and her wife Heather Poe, "this is just an issue in which we disagree." Mary Cheney and her wife responded sharply, with Mary Cheney writing on her Facebook page, "Liz - this isn't just an issue on which we disagree you're just wrong - and on the wrong side of history."

Lewis argued that Liz Cheney was merely "pandering" in order to win the GOP nomination in Wyoming and that she will "probably 'evolve' on the issue" after she is elected. According to Lewis, by not putting up with a "short-term inconvenience," Mary Cheney is "messing that up" (emphasis added):

Let's begin with loyalty to one's blood relatives -- and the fact that Mary Cheney apparently has none. Let's all let Mary in on a little secret here: YOUR SISTER IS PANDERING. That's right, once safely ensconced in the U.S. Senate, Liz Cheney will probably "evolve" on the issue.

But Liz is also attempting to actually win a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming. And to make that happen, Mary, Liz may have to say some things you won't like. This is a short-term inconvenience. (When you run, Mary, maybe Liz will similarly bite her tongue?) But she needs you now. And you, Mary, are messing that up.

When people talk about the breakdown of the traditional family unit, I suppose this what they mean. It has nothing to do with gay marriage -- but everything to do about putting selfishness and individualism ahead of the collective good of the family name.

Putting personal political views ahead of blood relatives (I get that Mary is now married -- and this constitutes her new family) seems like a relatively new phenomenon. This is partly because of social media (all Mary Cheney had to do was get angry and sign on to Facebook), but, my guess is this has something to do with our new individualistic world -- and the fact that expectations of familial loyalty are diminished.

Lewis' post reflects what appears to be a right-wing media effort to portray Mary Cheney as the villain in this squabble. Radio talk show host Lars Larson appeared on Fox News' The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson on November 18 to decry Mary Cheney's lack of "respect" for her sister's anti-marriage equality position, which Liz Cheney and her parents have asserted is her genuine and long-held view.

Since the Cheney family feud erupted into public view, Mary Cheney has written, "This isn't like a disagreement over grazing fees or what to do about Iran. There isn't a lot of gray here. Either you think all families should be treated equally or you don't. Liz's position is to treat my family as second class citizens. That's not a position I can be 'lovingly tolerant' towards."

Update (7/16): On July 9, Media Matters reported on speculation that Fox News contributor Liz Cheney would enter the Wyoming Senate race. The Associated Press is now reporting that Cheney will challenge Sen. Mike Enzi in the Republican primary next year. Based on precedent, this should mark the end of Cheney's tenure as a Fox News contributor.

Shortly after Cheney's announcement, she garnered support from a Fox News colleague when contributor Erick Erickson tweeted, "I'm pleased to endorse Liz Cheney for the United States Senate."

Below is the original post.

Update: Mediaite reports that Fox News has terminated Cheney's contract in response to her announcement.

The New York Timesreported this weekend that Fox News contributor Liz Cheney's potential run for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming "threatens to start a civil war within the state's Republican establishment." According to the Times, because the seat is currently held by the reliably conservative Michael Enzi, any primary challenge by Cheney could cause serious conflict within the state's GOP.

A run by Cheney -- who is merely the latest in a long line of Fox News figures to use a job at the network to help position for a possible run for office -- could also set up an interesting fight within Fox itself, pitting the contributor and her allies against former Bush administration colleague Karl Rove.

Rove is helping lead the Conservative Victory Project, which the Times reported in February will seek to "recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts." That definition appears to fit Enzi, an incumbent that, per the The National Journal, "has been a reliable stalwart for the political right--his lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union through 2010 was above 93%, one of the highest among senators." In a December 2010 appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, Rove praised Enzi as "a very sensible Republican" and highlighted his past efforts to reach across the aisle.

Any move by Rove's group to oppose Cheney's run is likely to lead to withering criticism from their Fox colleagues. Fox contributors Katie Pavlich, Jedediah Bila, and Richard Grenell have all voiced their support for a Cheney run, with Grenell asking, "where do I send my Liz Cheney for Senate Check?"

Other Fox figures heavily criticized the Rove group when news of its existence first surfaced. Fox host Mike Huckabee accused Rove's "absolutely repulsive" group of engaging in "fratricide"; frequent Fox guest and popular radio host Mark Levin labeled Rove a "propagandist"; Fox contributor Erick Erickson suggested that any candidate supported by Rove's group "should be targeted for destruction."

Liz Cheney joined the chorus during an interview on Fox host Andrea Tantaros' radio program. Cheney, who explained that she considers Rove a good friend and admires him, nonetheless said that she has "some problems and I haven't talked to Karl directly, but just based on the news reports, I don't like the idea that we're going to have an outside group coming in and determining who ought to be the candidate in a primary."

The New York Timesreported this weekend that Fox News contributor Liz Cheney's potential run for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming "threatens to start a civil war within the state's Republican establishment." According to the Times, because the seat is currently held by the reliably conservative Michael Enzi, any primary challenge by Cheney could cause serious conflict within the state's GOP.

A run by Cheney -- who is merely the latest in a long line of Fox News figures to use a job at the network to help position for a possible run for office -- could also set up an interesting fight within Fox itself, pitting the contributor and her allies against former Bush administration colleague Karl Rove.

Rove is helping lead the Conservative Victory Project, which the Times reported in February will seek to "recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts." That definition appears to fit Enzi, an incumbent that, per the The National Journal, "has been a reliable stalwart for the political right--his lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union through 2010 was above 93%, one of the highest among senators." In a December 2010 appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, Rove praised Enzi as "a very sensible Republican" and highlighted his past efforts to reach across the aisle.

Any move by Rove's group to oppose Cheney's run is likely to lead to withering criticism from their Fox colleagues. Fox contributors Katie Pavlich, Jebediah Bila, and Richard Grenell have all voiced their support for a Cheney run, with Grenell asking, "where do I send my Liz Cheney for Senate Check?"

Other Fox figures heavily criticized the Rove group when news of its existence first surfaced. Fox host Mike Huckabee accused Rove's "absolutely repulsive" group of engaging in "fratricide"; frequent Fox guest and popular radio host Mark Levin labeled Rove a "propagandist"; Fox contributor Erick Erickson suggested that any candidate supported by Rove's group "should be targeted for destruction."

Liz Cheney joined the chorus during an interview on Fox host Andrea Tantaros' radio program. Cheney, who explained that she considers Rove a good friend and admires him, nonetheless said that she has "some problems and I haven't talked to Karl directly, but just based on the news reports, I don't like the idea that we're going to have an outside group coming in and determining who ought to be the candidate in a primary."

Fox News promoted climate deniers and disputed the scientific consensus that climate change exists and is man-made in response to a proposal from President Obama to lower carbon emissions that contribute to the warming of the planet.

On June 25, President Obama delivered a speech where he laid out policy proposals to combat climate change, including the regulation of carbon emissions from existing power plants. Fox News immediately reacted by hosting prominent climate deniers and dismissing the reality of climate change.

America Live host Megyn Kelly cut away from Obama's speech after several minutes, saying that Obama's assertion that "the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it" is "not the full story." Kelly then turned to climatedenier Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an organization that has financial ties to the fossil fuel industry. Kelly and Horner both pushed the false notion that recent short-term temperature trends undermine the scientific consensus that climate change is ongoing.

On Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer reacted to the speech by also pushing the idea that recent temperature trends undermine the long-term warming trend.

Later on Special Report, Fox contributor Stephen Hayes responded to Obama's speech by perpetuating the myth that there was scientific acceptance of global cooling in the 1970s.

Your World with Neil Cavuto hosted weather forecaster and climate denier Joe Bastardi, who incorrectly claimed that Obama was wrong when he said in his speech that the "12 warmest years in recorded history have all come in the last 15 years."

Opening The Five, co-host Greg Gutfeld said climate skeptics "were right all along" and said Obama was "denying science" in his climate change speech.

And on Hannity, Fox contributor Liz Cheney dismissed the science behind climate change when she said that Obama is "using phony science to kill jobs." She continued, saying that "the science is just simply bogus."

But despite Fox's efforts to deny it, the fact is that the vast majority of climate scientists agree that climate change is occurring. Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists that publish peer-reviewed papers on the subject of climate change agree that global temperatures have risen and that "human activity is a significant contributing factor" in the rising temperatures. Eighty-four percent of scientists acknowledge that the planet is warming due to human activity, and nearly 200 scientific organizations from around the world have made public statements acknowledging that manmade climate change is real.

There's no shortage of enthusiasm among conservatives to move past the 2012 election and fix the manifold problems facing the conservative movement. However, this eagerness on the part of conservatives for a Republican resurgence isn't matched by a willingness to actually alter the self-destructive behaviors that have marginalized the right. Liz Cheney joined up with this "cry change but do nothing" crowd in a Wall Street Journalop-ed that counsels conservatives to move past 2012 and start fighting President Obama... with the exact same arguments and talking points used by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Put them side-by-side, and the daylight between Cheney's op-ed and the Romney-Ryan campaign just about disappears.

Liz Cheney: "[Obama] believes that more government borrowing and spending are the solution to every problem."

Romney-Ryan: "The president has the same old answers as in the past: he wants another stimulus, he wants more government workers, and he wants to raise taxes." -- Mitt Romney

Liz Cheney: "[Obama] seems unaware that the free-enterprise system has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system devised by man."

Romney-Ryan: "Redistribution of wealth undermines the true sources of America's prosperity and progress: our entrepreneurial people and our free enterprise system. Mitt Romney understands that. He knows that American free enterprise has lifted more people out of poverty than any government program in history." -- Romney campaign surrogate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Romney-Ryan: "The fact is every time they attack Mitt Romney for his experience in the private sector, they reinforce the idea that President Obama is hostile to the private sector." -- Romney campaign senior adviser Ed Gillespie

Liz Cheney: "[Obama] has launched a war on religious freedom."

Romney-Ryan: "President Obama used his health care plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith." -- Romney campaign ad

Liz Cheney: "[Obama] has launched a war on fossil fuels."

Romney-Ryan: "Obama wages war on coal while we lose jobs to China." -- Romney campaign ad

Liz Cheney: "[Obama] doesn't believe in creating a bigger pie with more opportunity for all. He believes in greater redistribution of a much smaller pie."

Romney-Ryan: "Our job is not to fight over a shrinking pie in redistributed slices, our job as leaders is to grow the pie so that everybody has a better shot at the American dream, and everybody can pick themselves up." -- Paul Ryan

Liz Cheney: "If you're unsure of what this America would look like, Google 'Cyprus' or 'Greece.'"

Romney-Ryan: "We've gone from $10 trillion of national debt to $16 trillion of national debt. If the president were re-elected, we'd go to almost $20 trillion of national debt. This puts us on a road to Greece." -- Mitt Romney

Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta contradicted President Obama's administration by admitting that information obtained by enhanced interrogation led to the death of Osama bin Laden. In fact, Panetta's statement is similar to those made by the Obama administration: that the operation was put together with information from a variety of sources, and that information leading to the raid on bin Laden's compound could have been gathered without resorting to enhanced interrogation.

On the February 4 edition of his Fox News show, Hannity claimed Panetta contradicted the Obama administration's longtime assertion that very little information obtained from enhanced interrogation techniques contributed to the operation that resulted in the bin Laden raid. Hannity played a clip of Panetta on NBC's Meet the Press in which he responded to a question about the film Zero Dark Thirty and the use of enhanced interrogation to capture bin Laden, then later asked guest Liz Cheney why President Obama "can't even acknowledge what is an obvious, simple truth, that those EITs did given them intelligence that led to the capture and killing of bin Laden?"

In fact, Panetta explained on the February 3 edition of Meet the Press that the raid on bin Laden's compound could have been successful without any information gathered through enhanced interrogation.

On December 7, President-elect Donald Trump named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Media should take note of Pruitt’s climate science denial, his deep ties to the energy industries he will be charged with regulating, and his long record of opposition to EPA efforts to reduce air and water pollution and combat climate change.

President-elect Donald Trump has picked -- or considered -- nearly a dozen people who have worked in right-wing media, including talk radio, right-wing news sites, Fox News, and conservative newspapers, to fill his administration. And Trump himself made weekly guest appearances on Fox for a number of years while his vice president used to host a conservative talk radio show.